As of this writing, the Golden State Warriors are tied at two wins apiece with the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Western Conference semifinals. This is their best showing in the playoffs since the 1970s, when Rick Barry was setting records for free throws with his trademark granny shot. Fans of NBA basketball north of the Grapevine are finally getting something to cheer about after decades of famine, and during recent games inside Oracle Arena, they have done so at volumes consistently hitting triple digits on the decibel meter. It is the best thing to happen in the NBA in years.
No one would have predicted this as recently as two weeks ago, when All-Star forward David Lee tore a muscle in his hip. What we have seen since, though, are the Warriors as they were intended to be when they traded guard Monta Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks for center Andrew Bogut. With Stephen Curry assuming the leadership and ball-handling responsibilities and Bogut, healthy for once, hauling down rebounds and patrolling the paint on both ends of the floor, the Warriors are giving the Spurs, who are likely the best team left in the Western Conference, all they can handle. Thanks to last year’s draft, the Warriors have several other young players such as Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes who can score, defend, and run the floor at a punishing pace. The Warriors may not make this year’s Finals, and I’m not sure in any case that I want them to be sacrificial lambs for LeBron James and the Miami Heat, but there is good reason to hope that if they can keep Bogut’s feet and Curry’s ankles intact—a big if—they will be entertaining contenders for a long time to come.
Next season, I may even have to get myself inside the building.
